Moyashimon's 9th Manga Volume to Bundle CG Anime DVD

The ninth limited first-edition volume of Masayuki Ishikawa's Moyashimon manga will bundle a "CG anime DVD" when it ships in Japan next month. Shirogumi Inc., the studio responsible for animating the germs in the live-action television adaptation of the manga, is producing an completely original story for the DVD. The short, which will run for about six minutes, will depict the popular germ characters of the manga.

The manga has been running in Kodansha's Evening magazine since 2004, and Del Rey Manga is publishing the second manga volume in North America this month. The story follows a college student who discovers that he can see and communicate with the germs all around him — germs that appear as super-deformed characters.

Yuichi Nakamura (pictured above right) will star in the live-action adaptation, which will launch in Japan next month. Shirogumi also produced an animated television adaptation with director Yuichiro Yano in 2007.